Parting and Departure
==
Translator: Luminisca
==
“W-w-w-why didn’t you tell me, Nacht-sama!!”
Aisha’s voice which closes to screaming reverberated through the corridor.
Nacht who was at the same dining table with her of course know that Crysta was coming and heard the knocking.
But she did not stop her from entering.
“There is no need to be so embarrassed, Aisha. Crysta is the acquaintance of both of us. If the one entering was an unknown man, of course, I would not let him enter, but she is fine—”
Nacht beckoned Crysta who was frozen to come closer and sit while keeping her gaze toward Aisha.
“—And we are just eating, right?”
Aisha glared at Nacht with teary eyes but hearing that she nodded and then turned her sharp gaze toward Crysta.
“Yes, we were just eating—right, we were just eating, understand?”
There was no light in her eyes.
Since Crysta did not plan on aggravating her further, she just nodded.
“Yes, just eating.”
Aisha let a small laugh and Crysta also smile gracefully.
“Alright, Crysta. I could guess why you are here—but let’s talk slowly while drinking some black tea shall we—”
Nacht poured black tea into the white teacups and put them in front of Crysta and Aisha.
Then she took a sip first, and while enjoying the freshly brewed tea that would scald other people’s tongues, her gaze moved toward Crysta.
“It was about the reward I mentioned before. It was a bit sudden, but I am about to leave the trade city for some time. And so I feel I need to report to Nacht-dono before that—”
“I see, so that’s why it was a bit busy lately—”
Nacht understood the situation from those words alone, while Aisha was tilting her head in confusion.
Her eyes open wide as if asking what they were talking about.
“Aisha, let’s do some review. What are the three obligations of the kingdom’s noble?”
A bit perplexed by the sudden question, Aisha answered hesitatingly.
“Umm, govern, tax, arming soldiers—”
Nacht nodded at her answers.
“That’s right. For noble, especially feudalistic noble, in exchange for receiving land, they must pay taxes and contribute to military power for the kingdom. Governing was the duty of those with noble blood or something. That was how they prove their loyalty to the kingdom. And recently don’t you feel something when looking at people in this town?”
“—?”
Aisha tilted her head in confusion, so Nacht just continued.
“Don’t you see that the merchants looked so busy?”
“Ah, now that you mentioned it, that’s right…”
Aisha was unconcerned, but with Nacht’s perception, there would be no way it could be hidden. Additionally, there was a blabbermouth of a man who was also giving Nacht the truth readily. Not noticing that was, on the contrary, would be impossible.
“Merchants being busy would mean they need to purchase something. In a town like this trade city where merchants were everywhere, it would be easy to guess just by looking at them. It would be hard to control information in this town. So, Crysta was also a noble, and she was powerful. If she needed to leave this town before the reward was given, then it should be no small matter.
A matter which needed her power, the answer was pretty clear, right?”
“—a war?”
Nacht gave the information needed and let Aisha process it slowly until she was able to reach the conclusions.
“That’s right. The other day, Estoll which was located on the south declared ward toward the kingdom. We have been in a peace treaty with the empire for fifty years, and Estoll was our allied country even before that, but……….. My family also demanded me to join the war—”
Crysta was expressionless, but it was slightly crooked as if she was holding back the bitterness.
It was not discontent.
She was desperately hiding her disgusted feeling.
The silence added more weight to the air.
Crysta was biting her molar to maintain her expressionless state until she regained her composure and returned to her usual self.
“I am sorry—and then, this time was a bit in hurry, but I want to report what I could find.”
After saying that, she looked toward Aisha.
“Alright, let me be frank. We could not find much information about Aisha’s mother Floria. The elf was an exclusive race, so even the guild did not have many records of them. However, there were some things we do know.”
She said with conviction.
“Aisha, your father’s name was Roland, was it not?”
“Eh!? How…does Crysta know…my father’s name…?
Aisha was surprised she almost shouted. Taking that reaction as an answer, Crysta smiled.
“As expected—Roland was a well-known adventurer in this trade city and Estoll. A small hero, forever C rank joker, ah, no, perhaps the most suitable was ‘the kind’ Roland. I haven’t met him face to face but—”
“No way…father…he could not continue as adventurer because…”
Hearing those words, Crysta laughed.
“Thirty-four times—”
Crysta continued.
“—That was the number of times he broke the adventure guild rules. –Although adventurers should be free, there were still some rules that need to be heeded. And breaking them would result in a penalty. Doing it a few times might make you kicked out of the guild. But even so, he did not get kicked out. It might be because of the virtue he builds.”
It was something Crysta wished to learn.
That self-deprecating thought flashed in her mind.
“I must tell you first Aisha. This time during my information gathering, I received some messages from those who adore your father—”
–Thank you for being alive.
Only that.
But it has the weight come from them.
Before she noticed, tears rolled on Aisha’s face.
Aisha herself could not hold it back.
“When inquiring about a female elf, another man’s name appeared. That was the kind Roland. He was the only C-rank adventurer with title. When he was around twenty, he left the guard’s request to his comrades and took individual action to save a female elf. After that, he suddenly retired from being an adventurer. From a female who was his past comrade, the elf’s name was Floria.”
Crysta took a sip of the black tea and then put the cup back.
“She only heard that he was deceased recently. She felt sad but also worried about you—when she went to the village and found out that you were chased out, she almost turned the village into scorched earth. Not only her but there were also many who know about Rolland. Even the guild master—Nigurd has a feeling that you might be his child, and he was glad when found out that you are truly his. That’s why Aisha, we wanted you, who have experienced something awful, to know. As a comrade who fought a war together—
–You are born not to be shunned; you are born to be blessed—
Well, I was just parroting my mother’s word though.”
Crysta sounded a bit shy. But only her intonation, her face was expressionless like always.
“To be blessed…”
Aisha’s muttering as she pondered reverberated in the silent room.
Crysta quickly changed her tone and returned to her usual calm self.
“—Let’s get to the main issue. We could not find the whereabouts of Floria, but in the south, even more south than Estoll, there was the Gellaria forest where an elf settlement was located. It was too far to be considered as ‘around here’, but on our records, that was the closest elf settlement. The place where Rolland met Floria was also when Rolland received guard request at the south of Estoll, I heard.”
“Elf settlement huh, interesting. It sounded like fantasy alright.”
Nacht’s eyes glowed with excitement.
She smiled bewitchingly but there was also a mixed suspicious scent.
And yet it would always draw people in and not the other way.
“But right now was a time at war—it would be impossible to walk straight to Estoll. Well, the war would end quickly so if you could wait—”
Crysta suddenly stopped.
Because Nacht’s smile deepened.
It was a smile akin to a child who was given a toy and unable to hold back to play. Before Crysta could fall for that smile she sense the danger quickly and become wary.
“War was not enough reason to stop me.”
Nacht told her the simple truth.
Crysta sighed in resignation.
“Haaa….Well I could guess you would say that—then could you please hear my wish—I know it was impudent of me, but could you not join the war.”
“—Hmm, I thought you would ask me to help you?”
“Hahaha, as a noble, I should. But I know your power. There were many who wished to borrow your power among nobility or use you to attack, or how to keep you on the Kingdom’s side. But if I am allowed to be blunt, if you entered this war, there would be no war—”
There would be only a massacre.
Nacht understood Crysta’s worry.
Nacht could be said similar to a nuclear weapon. She would not change the state of war. She would end it. Used wrongly, and the one who ‘use’ it would also disappear. Nacht was not suitable for a war where a thousand or ten thousand humans fought desperately with weapons in their hands.
“That said, I also hope you would be on the good side with the kingdom. If you head to Estoll, there might be some who mistake you as a traitor, so I wish you would not involve yourself with this war.”
“—Hmm, let me consider it. Well, no need to worry. I was not so bored to enter human’s quarrels. Additionally, traveling casually with Aisha was our goal. If we have a chance in the future we might drop by again in this town—I thank you for your information, Crysta. Meeting with you was a piece of good luck for me—”
Nacht was ready to say farewell.
She felt she has been in this town for some time. Nacht destination was after all, on the travel itself.
""
And so Crysta’s report could be said a good time.
It would be great if they could enjoy the elf’s settlement in their travel, and find Aisha’s mother.
Now that she has made up her mind, she was eager to left this town.
“I will look forward to meeting with you again someday in the future.”
“Yes, I was glad to meet with you too, Nacht-sama—”
Crysta said as she stood up.
“Ah—Crysta, thank you very much! We were in your care!”
Aisha also stood up hurriedly and bowed her head as she thanked Crysta.
Looking at Aisha’s gesture, Crysta could not help but smiled.
It might be the first time she smiled in front of them.
“It was my pleasure. –Let the blessing be with you, Aisha.”
It was not a fully bloomed flower, but a bud that tried so hard to bloom. But it was a beautiful smile nonetheless.
Parting and Departure
==
Translator: Luminisca
==
“W-w-w-why didn’t you tell me, Nacht-sama!!”
Aisha’s voice which closes to screaming reverberated through the corridor.
Nacht who was at the same dining table with her of course know that Crysta was coming and heard the knocking.
But she did not stop her from entering.
“There is no need to be so embarrassed, Aisha. Crysta is the acquaintance of both of us. If the one entering was an unknown man, of course, I would not let him enter, but she is fine—”
Nacht beckoned Crysta who was frozen to come closer and sit while keeping her gaze toward Aisha.
“—And we are just eating, right?”
Aisha glared at Nacht with teary eyes but hearing that she nodded and then turned her sharp gaze toward Crysta.
“Yes, we were just eating—right, we were just eating, understand?”
There was no light in her eyes.
Since Crysta did not plan on aggravating her further, she just nodded.
“Yes, just eating.”
Aisha let a small laugh and Crysta also smile gracefully.
“Alright, Crysta. I could guess why you are here—but let’s talk slowly while drinking some black tea shall we—”
Nacht poured black tea into the white teacups and put them in front of Crysta and Aisha.
Then she took a sip first, and while enjoying the freshly brewed tea that would scald other people’s tongues, her gaze moved toward Crysta.
“It was about the reward I mentioned before. It was a bit sudden, but I am about to leave the trade city for some time. And so I feel I need to report to Nacht-dono before that—”
“I see, so that’s why it was a bit busy lately—”
Nacht understood the situation from those words alone, while Aisha was tilting her head in confusion.
Her eyes open wide as if asking what they were talking about.
“Aisha, let’s do some review. What are the three obligations of the kingdom’s noble?”
A bit perplexed by the sudden question, Aisha answered hesitatingly.
“Umm, govern, tax, arming soldiers—”
Nacht nodded at her answers.
“That’s right. For noble, especially feudalistic noble, in exchange for receiving land, they must pay taxes and contribute to military power for the kingdom. Governing was the duty of those with noble blood or something. That was how they prove their loyalty to the kingdom. And recently don’t you feel something when looking at people in this town?”
“—?”
Aisha tilted her head in confusion, so Nacht just continued.
“Don’t you see that the merchants looked so busy?”
“Ah, now that you mentioned it, that’s right…”
Aisha was unconcerned, but with Nacht’s perception, there would be no way it could be hidden. Additionally, there was a blabbermouth of a man who was also giving Nacht the truth readily. Not noticing that was, on the contrary, would be impossible.
“Merchants being busy would mean they need to purchase something. In a town like this trade city where merchants were everywhere, it would be easy to guess just by looking at them. It would be hard to control information in this town. So, Crysta was also a noble, and she was powerful. If she needed to leave this town before the reward was given, then it should be no small matter.
A matter which needed her power, the answer was pretty clear, right?”
“—a war?”
Nacht gave the information needed and let Aisha process it slowly until she was able to reach the conclusions.
“That’s right. The other day, Estoll which was located on the south declared ward toward the kingdom. We have been in a peace treaty with the empire for fifty years, and Estoll was our allied country even before that, but……….. My family also demanded me to join the war—”
Crysta was expressionless, but it was slightly crooked as if she was holding back the bitterness.
It was not discontent.
She was desperately hiding her disgusted feeling.
The silence added more weight to the air.
Crysta was biting her molar to maintain her expressionless state until she regained her composure and returned to her usual self.
“I am sorry—and then, this time was a bit in hurry, but I want to report what I could find.”
After saying that, she looked toward Aisha.
“Alright, let me be frank. We could not find much information about Aisha’s mother Floria. The elf was an exclusive race, so even the guild did not have many records of them. However, there were some things we do know.”
She said with conviction.
“Aisha, your father’s name was Roland, was it not?”
“Eh!? How…does Crysta know…my father’s name…?
Aisha was surprised she almost shouted. Taking that reaction as an answer, Crysta smiled.
“As expected—Roland was a well-known adventurer in this trade city and Estoll. A small hero, forever C rank joker, ah, no, perhaps the most suitable was ‘the kind’ Roland. I haven’t met him face to face but—”
“No way…father…he could not continue as adventurer because…”
Hearing those words, Crysta laughed.
“Thirty-four times—”
Crysta continued.
“—That was the number of times he broke the adventure guild rules. –Although adventurers should be free, there were still some rules that need to be heeded. And breaking them would result in a penalty. Doing it a few times might make you kicked out of the guild. But even so, he did not get kicked out. It might be because of the virtue he builds.”
It was something Crysta wished to learn.
That self-deprecating thought flashed in her mind.
“I must tell you first Aisha. This time during my information gathering, I received some messages from those who adore your father—”
–Thank you for being alive.
Only that.
But it has the weight come from them.
Before she noticed, tears rolled on Aisha’s face.
Aisha herself could not hold it back.
“When inquiring about a female elf, another man’s name appeared. That was the kind Roland. He was the only C-rank adventurer with title. When he was around twenty, he left the guard’s request to his comrades and took individual action to save a female elf. After that, he suddenly retired from being an adventurer. From a female who was his past comrade, the elf’s name was Floria.”
Crysta took a sip of the black tea and then put the cup back.
“She only heard that he was deceased recently. She felt sad but also worried about you—when she went to the village and found out that you were chased out, she almost turned the village into scorched earth. Not only her but there were also many who know about Rolland. Even the guild master—Nigurd has a feeling that you might be his child, and he was glad when found out that you are truly his. That’s why Aisha, we wanted you, who have experienced something awful, to know. As a comrade who fought a war together—
–You are born not to be shunned; you are born to be blessed—
Well, I was just parroting my mother’s word though.”
Crysta sounded a bit shy. But only her intonation, her face was expressionless like always.
“To be blessed…”
Aisha’s muttering as she pondered reverberated in the silent room.
Crysta quickly changed her tone and returned to her usual calm self.
“—Let’s get to the main issue. We could not find the whereabouts of Floria, but in the south, even more south than Estoll, there was the Gellaria forest where an elf settlement was located. It was too far to be considered as ‘around here’, but on our records, that was the closest elf settlement. The place where Rolland met Floria was also when Rolland received guard request at the south of Estoll, I heard.”
“Elf settlement huh, interesting. It sounded like fantasy alright.”
Nacht’s eyes glowed with excitement.
She smiled bewitchingly but there was also a mixed suspicious scent.
And yet it would always draw people in and not the other way.
“But right now was a time at war—it would be impossible to walk straight to Estoll. Well, the war would end quickly so if you could wait—”
Crysta suddenly stopped.
Because Nacht’s smile deepened.
It was a smile akin to a child who was given a toy and unable to hold back to play. Before Crysta could fall for that smile she sense the danger quickly and become wary.
“War was not enough reason to stop me.”
Nacht told her the simple truth.
Crysta sighed in resignation.
“Haaa….Well I could guess you would say that—then could you please hear my wish—I know it was impudent of me, but could you not join the war.”
“—Hmm, I thought you would ask me to help you?”
“Hahaha, as a noble, I should. But I know your power. There were many who wished to borrow your power among nobility or use you to attack, or how to keep you on the Kingdom’s side. But if I am allowed to be blunt, if you entered this war, there would be no war—”
There would be only a massacre.
Nacht understood Crysta’s worry.
Nacht could be said similar to a nuclear weapon. She would not change the state of war. She would end it. Used wrongly, and the one who ‘use’ it would also disappear. Nacht was not suitable for a war where a thousand or ten thousand humans fought desperately with weapons in their hands.
“That said, I also hope you would be on the good side with the kingdom. If you head to Estoll, there might be some who mistake you as a traitor, so I wish you would not involve yourself with this war.”
“—Hmm, let me consider it. Well, no need to worry. I was not so bored to enter human’s quarrels. Additionally, traveling casually with Aisha was our goal. If we have a chance in the future we might drop by again in this town—I thank you for your information, Crysta. Meeting with you was a piece of good luck for me—”
Nacht was ready to say farewell.
She felt she has been in this town for some time. Nacht destination was after all, on the travel itself.
""
And so Crysta’s report could be said a good time.
It would be great if they could enjoy the elf’s settlement in their travel, and find Aisha’s mother.
Now that she has made up her mind, she was eager to left this town.
“I will look forward to meeting with you again someday in the future.”
“Yes, I was glad to meet with you too, Nacht-sama—”
Crysta said as she stood up.
“Ah—Crysta, thank you very much! We were in your care!”
Aisha also stood up hurriedly and bowed her head as she thanked Crysta.
Looking at Aisha’s gesture, Crysta could not help but smiled.
It might be the first time she smiled in front of them.
“It was my pleasure. –Let the blessing be with you, Aisha.”
It was not a fully bloomed flower, but a bud that tried so hard to bloom. But it was a beautiful smile nonetheless.
